Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoFred Squillante | DISPATCHGrove City coach Mike Lanza watches as some of his players participate in a punt drill. Lanza hopes to return the Greyhounds to the glory days they enjoyed in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Once a coach, always a coach, as the saying goes. So when Mike Lanza stepped down in 2007 after
24 years coaching football, he consciously didn’t toss his whistle and old playbooks into the
dumpster.

“I had a feeling someday I’d get back into it,” Lanza said with a wry smile, wearing the crimson
and blue of the Grove City Greyhounds, the program he took over in January. Soon thereafter, he
gave up the gig as girls basketball coach at Hartley he had held since 2007.

“It was hard not coaching football all that time,” he said. “I still had that itch, and I
scratched it by doing (Central Catholic League) games on radio. I still followed the game closely.
I followed the changes, the trends. I went to clinics here and there because I wanted to keep a toe
in it. Deep down, I figured that if the right time and the right opportunity came around, I
probably wouldn’t be able to turn it down.”

Lanza had successful runs coaching football at Jonathan Alder (1984-89), Whitehall (1990-94) and
Gahanna (1995-2007). Although he led Gahanna to the playoffs six times, his departure had been in
the works for two years.

“I had another life ambition, and that was to be a head girls basketball coach and, as it turns
out, to coach my daughter, Angela,” Lanza said. “I felt I couldn’t do football and basketball at
the same time, and I chose that career path for a while. I had a lot of fun and my share of success
doing that, but when I retired from teaching at Gahanna last year, I realized that I’m still very,
very energetic, and I’d like to look into some opportunities getting back into football.”

Matt Jordan resigned from Grove City after a 6-4 season, and Lanza, 56, jumped at the chance to
take over the tradition-rich program that has fallen a peg since its heyday of the 1990s and early
2000s.

Seven starters return from a unit that finished strong in 2013, losing just twice in the
powerful Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division.

“Of all the coaching openings, this is one that really popped out,” Lanza said. “I had always
admired this program from afar. It’s a community that loves its football and has produced a lot of
hard-working young men and kids that played at places like Ohio State. Grove City football has
always been known for being tough and hard-nosed, and that’s what we want.”

Lanza’s staff is a mishmash of former assistants from Grove City, Gahanna and elsewhere. He
prefers a heavy dose of power running, with play-action passing sprinkled in.

“I’m sure I can still learn something new being out of the game so long,” Lanza said. “But the
last time I checked, the game is still about running, blocking and tackling.”

At the outset, Lanza’s hiring drew a blank from curious Grove City players, but it didn’t take
long for him to leave his imprint.

“He’s very well-organized and knows exactly how he wants to go about things,” senior linebacker
Vennie Sapp said. “Practices are very up-tempo and no one stands around. Coach is very upfront
about things and how to correct mistakes.”

Two-way senior lineman Austin Treneff isn’t concerned that Lanza has been away from the game for
awhile.

“He obviously has a great knowledge of the game,” he said. “There has been a little bit of an
adjustment period. We’re changing our offense and our defense, but we’re getting a better grasp of
it.”